Saban hating in past, former Orange Bowl president hopes

ATLANTA — Confetti still fluttered through the electric Georgia Dome on Saturday evening. On the stage, Nick Saban waited for the SEC Championship trophy presentation.

A few yards away, a few easily-identified members of the Orange Bowl committee watched on. Their paths will soon cross again as the former Dolphins coach brings his Alabama Crimson Tide to Miami for the Jan. 7 BCS National Championship Game against No. 1 Notre Dame.

Now, nearly six years after Saban bolted for Tuscaloosa, the old tensions will likely return. He hasn't coached south of Orlando since leaving in January of 2007, but that'll change five weeks from Monday in Sun Life Stadium.

Former Orange Bowl president and current committee member Danny Ponce hopes the locals have moved on.

“You know what, I’d like to believe five years, four years later, that the community has mellowed and the college football world is going to applaud Nick Saban," he said, wearing the recognizable orange blazer in the middle of Saturday's SEC championship celebration. "If there’s some Dolphin people down there that are upset with him, I can’t change that. We at the Orange Bowl are proud to have coach Saban coming back to Miami.”

Alabama (12-1) beat No. 3 Georgia 32-28 in a classic SEC title game Saturday to set up the reunion.

Pitting two of the proudest college football traditions and former rivals could make this among the most anticipated BCS title games in history.

"You have two of the legendary programs in the business,," Ponce said. "You have two great teams, two great coaches. You know, these are the kinds of games you want.”

The pairings will be made official late Sunday evening, but the Alabama-Notre Dame match up was all but official after Saturday's games.